A mass stabbing at a Japanese care facility has left 19 disabled people dead in one of Japan’s worst mass murders since the second world war.
A 26-year-old man, Satoshi Uematsu, turned himself in to local police after stabbing 45 people at the care home. The incident took place in the Tsukui Yamayuri-en facility in Sagamihara, west of Tokyo; occupied by approximately 150 residents with mental disabilities.
Local broadcaster NTV claims that Uematsu was known to police, as he previously wrote a letter to politicians calling for the euthanasia of Japan’s disabled people.
His letter also contained a haunting plan to murder residents at the facility, to strike at night when there were fewer staff in the care home.
The Japan Times reports that his letter stated: “I dream of a world where the disabled could die in peace. I will carry out the plan without hurting the staffers, and I will turn myself in after I kill the disabled.”
The letter led to Uematsu being hospitalised because he was deemed a danger to others.
It has been reported Uematsu told police “It would be better if disabled people disappeared” after he turned himself in.
19 people are confirmed dead –26 injure — with the death toll expected to rise.
Did #Japan officials ignore letter knife attacker wrote to Parliament outlining bloody plan? https://t.co/FYrSSNnllT pic.twitter.com/qLbZrEWwle
— Firstpost (@firstpost) July 26, 2016